1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imprint apparatus, an imprint method, and an article manufacturing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
An imprinting technique is a technique by which it is possible to transfer a fine pattern having a nanoscopic scale; it is in practical use as a lithography technique for volume production of a magnetic storage medium or a semiconductor device. In an imprinting technique, a fine pattern is formed on a substrate, such as a silicon wafer, a glass plate, or the like, by using a mold, in which the fine pattern is formed by using an apparatus such as an electron beam drawing apparatus. The fine pattern is formed by coating the top of the substrate with resin, and then, curing the resin in a state in which the resin is brought into contact with the pattern of the mold. For the resin coated onto the substrate, to enhance a filling property when the resin is brought into contact with the pattern, the resin is coated (supplied) onto the substrate as droplets of a few picolitres.
For example, in a resin coating scheme by an ink-jet method, in addition to resin dispensing for pattern forming on the substrate, it is necessary to perform dummy dispensing to prevent an ink-jet nozzle from clogging, and to maintain an ink-jet dispensing capability. Dummy dispensing is also called a preliminary dispensing or a flushing. However, if minute droplets in units of picolitres are left as are without curing, they are volatilized, and as a result volatile components adhere to a component in the imprint apparatus. For example, if a volatile component of the resin adheres to a substrate or a mask in the imprint apparatus, it becomes a cause for a pattern defect when forming the fine pattern.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-41861 proposes an imprint apparatus that provides an evacuating mechanism in proximity to an ink-jet, to evacuate to the outside the imprint apparatus a volatile component of a resin that occurs in the imprint apparatus.
In the method of providing the evacuating mechanism proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-41861, a problem still remains in that there is a possibility that a volatile component of a resin that is not fully evacuated will leak within the imprint apparatus, and a pattern defect will occur.